Investigative Post, Hallwalls fundraisers coming up; BTPM info session; RERUN launch

By Elmer Ploetz

If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the last year, it’s that being a nonprofit is no easy thing. With that in mind, here are a few events and notes about ways you can help:

Investigative Post will be hosting its annual fundraising show with the Junkman’s Choir, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Tom Toles, on Thursday (July 31) at the Sportsmen’s Tavern. Doors are at 5, with music at 6.

The Investigative Post is close to our heart here at The Buffalo Hive, and in fact it is one of our inspirations as a nonprofit journalism startup. Led by Jim Heaney, it’s been around since 2012 and it has shown how nonprofit journalism can be done. It has been growing as the city’s daily newspaper has been struggling.

With its focus on investigative journalism, it’s also a complementary approach to our arts & culture coverage. So if you want to support nonprofit, watchdog journalism, tickets are $25 to support Heaney, Geoff Kelly and their crew.

The band, meanwhile, will include Toles on drums along with Tom Fischer and Jim Celeste (both former Pine Dogs, Outlyers and Riddlers), Carl Krahling and Bill Blanford for a blend of classic rock and Americana. Joe Rozler will add some keyboards.

BTPM: State of the Stations seeks to offer answers tonight

With the federal government reneging on its commitments to public media (they’re calling it “recission”), there are big questions about how this will affect our local National Public Radio and Corporation for Public Broadcasting entities.

The people at Buffalo Toronto Public Media, who would have received significant funding from those sources, will attempt to answer some of those questions on all of its formats tonight at 7:30. News reporters Jay Moran and Ryan Zunner will interview BTPM’s “key decision makers,” with the event being broadcast on Channel 17, 88.7 and 94.5 FM, and on their Youtube Channel.

If you’ve got questions, you can submit them before the show HERE or you can call 1-800-727-1017 during the show.

Hallwalls: On the count of three … draw!

One of Hallwalls’ signature events is the live drawing rally. This Wednesday, starting at 7 p.m., you can watch 36 artists create original drawings – in real time – in a pair of 45-minute rounds, then you bid on their artwork through Thursday night at 9. Music will be from ABCDJ and there will be a cash bar.

It’s a very cool event, and it’s also a kind of send off for Executive Director Edmund Cardoni, who is winding up his tenure with the gallery after 35 years. There will be a note box for anybody who wants to leave a memory or wish Ed well.

Here’s the list of artists participating: H. Boone, Emma Brittain, Emily Churco, Jack Edson, Robert Finn, Bob Fleming, Chris Fritton, Fotini Galanes, Kate Gaudy, Bobby Griffiths, Robert Harris, Shanel Kerekes, Iris Kirkwood, Sarah Liddell, Helen Lin, Erin Long, Philip Longson, Bill Maggio, Ruby Merritt, Shasti O’Leary-Soudant, John Ozimek, Sabrina Parsons, Alicia Paolucci, William Rich, Jennifer Ryan, Danielle Saeva, Richard Seemausen, Kathleen Shandraw, May Shenk, Chuck Tingley, Dana Tyrrell, Sky Vance, Adam Weekley, Patrick Willet, Rebecca Wing, and Yames.

Admission is $5 for Hallwalls members, $15 for non-members. You can find more information HERE.

RERUN: Climate-conscious team adventure?

A new nonprofit is seeking to launch, and it’s inviting people to get in on the ground floor. RERUN identifies itself as a climate-conscious team adventure featuring “regeneration, climate awareness, and creativity into a one-of-a-kind experience.” It will hold its first public forum Thursday night (July 31) from 5:30 to 7 at the Band of Bards/Buffalo Creative Workshop site at 255 Great Arrove Ave., Suite 205, in Buffalo.

Inspired by Chicago’s CHIditarod, next spring’s event is expected to send costumed teams of three racing down Buffalo sidewalks, pushing decorated 64-gallon recycling bins while collecting trash, igniting public conversations, and stopping at themed “Power Stations” — bars inspired by renewable energy sources like solar, wind, geothermal and hydro.

Organizers says there’s no entry fee, but participants will be required to complete a “regenerative action” before race day — whether by volunteering with a local climate group or creating a small project of their own.

As the organizers put it, “This isn’t a hurdle — it’s how we walk the walk before we roll the bins.”

The Thursday night event will be their first open forum and core organizer meeting (aka the Coreganizer meeting).

In a statement, organizer D. Bock said, ““RERUN isn’t your parents’ protest rally. It’s about collaborative action, celebration, and healing our relationship with the Earth. We’re not fighting fire with fire — we’re embracing gratitude, humility, and creative energy.”

A virtual option is available. For more information or to RSVP, email Bock, or just show up at the meeting and say, “Tell me more.”

The initial RERUN race is planned for Saturday, April 17, 2026, just before Earth Day.

So if you’ve ever dreamed of dressing up like the Lorax, pushing a trash bin down Elmwood Avenue and having a beer while saving the planet — this is your moment.

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